Yesterday the case arrived at 9:30 and around lunchtime I had moved my hardware into the new case.
First things first: it fits. I had some doubt and was ready to dremmel, but it was not necesary.
In advance to some pics that i took and that I still have to edit before showing them here, here a list of little facts:
1) this E-ATX mobo fits nicely, by a small margin because the 24 pin 12V plug just fits without leaving any room... and the two digit boot codes display is semi covered by one of the magnificent aluminium plates. (BUT: being an open case one can easily read it from the top of the case!)
2) I am using 1 SSD and 4 HDD, that is one more than In Win planned: I installed the 4th one in the DVD-ROM box... My dream would be to use only tons of SDDs fitted between the aluminiums sheets
3) I used the new Noctua A15 PWM fan on my C14 headsink, this one adjusts speed, contrary to the original equiped fans. It is silent even at full speed (1300rpm) and normally runs at 300 RPM) I also added a pair of Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120mm, which are also as silent as it can be and are OFF on idling temps thanks to Asus "Fan Xpert 2".
Why am i talking about fans? Well, even with silent or muted fans there is some noise: harddrives buzzing! For those looking for The Silent Case: start using only SSDs
4) A small mod is the PSU filter. It has none. I took the PSU filter out of the Cosmos S, dremmeled it to fit the H-Frame and it fits all perfectly. (BTW, the old PSU was dusty inside even with a filter.)
5) One negative: one of the PCI card holding screws turns forever. The fate of aluminium. The Cosmos S case had at least 3 of these. A nut solves it.
6) Those details: the screws come all in distinct little bags with a descriptive sticker, not one bag with all in one.
In my opinion, the build quality is superior to every other case. I have 2 Lian Li and those are "rudimentary" and cheaper compared to this one and the CM Cosmos is purely mass production with lots of fragile cheap plastic and paper thin aluminium. The H-Frame is a tank. Very beautiful in the office and a good bit smaller compared to the Cosmos, although bigger than mid-towers.
First things first: it fits. I had some doubt and was ready to dremmel, but it was not necesary.
In advance to some pics that i took and that I still have to edit before showing them here, here a list of little facts:
1) this E-ATX mobo fits nicely, by a small margin because the 24 pin 12V plug just fits without leaving any room... and the two digit boot codes display is semi covered by one of the magnificent aluminium plates. (BUT: being an open case one can easily read it from the top of the case!)
2) I am using 1 SSD and 4 HDD, that is one more than In Win planned: I installed the 4th one in the DVD-ROM box... My dream would be to use only tons of SDDs fitted between the aluminiums sheets
3) I used the new Noctua A15 PWM fan on my C14 headsink, this one adjusts speed, contrary to the original equiped fans. It is silent even at full speed (1300rpm) and normally runs at 300 RPM) I also added a pair of Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120mm, which are also as silent as it can be and are OFF on idling temps thanks to Asus "Fan Xpert 2".
Why am i talking about fans? Well, even with silent or muted fans there is some noise: harddrives buzzing! For those looking for The Silent Case: start using only SSDs
4) A small mod is the PSU filter. It has none. I took the PSU filter out of the Cosmos S, dremmeled it to fit the H-Frame and it fits all perfectly. (BTW, the old PSU was dusty inside even with a filter.)
5) One negative: one of the PCI card holding screws turns forever. The fate of aluminium. The Cosmos S case had at least 3 of these. A nut solves it.
6) Those details: the screws come all in distinct little bags with a descriptive sticker, not one bag with all in one.
In my opinion, the build quality is superior to every other case. I have 2 Lian Li and those are "rudimentary" and cheaper compared to this one and the CM Cosmos is purely mass production with lots of fragile cheap plastic and paper thin aluminium. The H-Frame is a tank. Very beautiful in the office and a good bit smaller compared to the Cosmos, although bigger than mid-towers.